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Pay last respects to body of the dead? No; you pay last respects to ‘the dead’
STATIONARY? No! This is an old goof, you may bet it has featured in our past editions, but let’s expose once again, hoping culpable artists across Dar and beyond will be recalled by STATIONERY owners to undo the damage. Yes, “stationary” is an adjective that describes something that’s not moving. However, the signpost in this photo taken in Tegeta, Dar es Salaam, is advertising a shop which sells paper, notebooks, pens and other writing material, that is, STATIONERY. Trust signwriters. PHOTO | HM
What you need to know:
- In one publication, there were all these photos of solemn mourners walking past, standing and bowing in apt salutation to the fallen icon of Tanzanian post-Nyerere leadership. In one newspaper caption scribblers wrote consistently that so and so were paying “last respects to the body of Mzee…”
Late on Thursday, February 29, Tanzania lost a great man, Retired President Ali Hassan Mwinyi. He was 98. Mzee Mwinyi, was the man who took over this country’s leadership mantle following the voluntary retirement in 1985 of founding Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere.
This exceptional leader was a man who wielded so much power, being the topmost leader of this huge country, yet he remained so humble and likeable in his demeanour, conduct and speech.
Mzee Mwinyi, if you ask me, was a natural humourist. We all loved to wait for the moments he would depart from his prepared speech so that we could enjoy to hear him underscore some otherwise ordinary things in ways that would leave everybody roaring in laughter!
This great, yet simple man, who was laid to rest in his home village of Mangapwani in Unguja on Saturday, March 2, will forever be missed. Rest in peace Mzee Rukhsa, I say.
Having thus spoken about the fallen leader, I must hastily move to pay kudos to the country’s media for the massive job they did to ensure Mzee Mwinyi passing is given due coverage. Some newspapers dedicated almost all pages—including sports pages—of their Saturday editions, to stories that touched on President Mwinyi’s inputs.
I strongly suspect that following the announcement of Mzee’s death late on Thursday, some media house managers recalled numerous key reporters and editors to the newsroom to work overnight! Hongereni sana, wanahabari wetu!
Now hang on! I’m almost overlooking the fact that this column is about exposing linguistic damages that mess our English press and coming up with ways to mend them! Here we go…
In one publication, there were all these photos of solemn mourners walking past, standing and bowing in apt salutation to the fallen icon of Tanzanian post-Nyerere leadership. In one newspaper caption scribblers wrote consistently that so and so were paying “last respects to the body of Mzee…”
There was a caption in which the scribbler said a mourner was “paying her last respects to the CASKET bearing the body of the former President…” Yes, wallah!
This being a special edition of ‘Our Kind of English’ column, we’ll pick an example or two of well written captions on paying last respects, like this one from our Republic’s senior-most broadsheet: “Zanzibar President Dr Hussein Mwinyi accompanied by First Lady, Maryam, pay their last respects to HIS FATHER former President Alhaj Ali Hassan Mwinyi.” Perfect!
The huge and colourful broadsheet on the same date had this caption:
“Vice President Dr Philip Mpango pays his last respects to former president Ali Hassan Mwinyi at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam yesterday.” Perfectly penned caption!
What we’re trying to underscore here is, mourners pay last respects, not to the body, but to the person who has died. In other words, we pay our last respects to the dead, not to their bodies!
Now while highlighting the virtues of the fallen hero of Tanzania’s free market economy, a scribbler writes that “…Mr Ali Hassan Mwinyi (was) the visionary and resilient leader who assumed office when the country was ENCOUNTERED WITH socio-economic hardship…” Nope!
We aver our colleague meant to say “…the country was ENCOUNTERING socio-economic hardships…”
On Thursday, February 29, a scribbler, reporting on a plan to equip buses with CCTV cameras, a scribbler wrote that this move “…will deter drivers from overloading passengers and reduce incidents of smuggling, CRIME and corruption on the roads.”
Hey! Incidents of crime, smuggling and corruption? This is nonsensical because of the suggestion the two vices mentioned here, i.e. smuggling and corruption, aren’t crimes, but the fact is, they are!
It means, our scribbling colleague should have written something like: “…reduce incidents of crime such as smuggling and corruption.”
Ah, this treacherous language called English!
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